What’s New? Meet Our Intern, Sarah Olah

My family and I traveled to Aruba a few weeks ago because I’m graduating in the spring and my mom wanted to have “our last family vacation.” During our seven-day trip, we met four Penn State families, had “WE ARE” chanted at us at the pool, and saw lots of Penn State merchandise—from people wearing it to seeing souvenir shops selling T-shirts saying “Penn State Aruba.” Yes, we bought one.

Here’s the T-shirt our intern bought on vacation.

In Aruba—thousands of miles away from our home in the Poconos—we met two Penn State incoming freshmen, both majoring in engineering. And my brother was getting ready to move into his freshman dorm in East Halls—and major in engineering.

Can you say small world? Or incredible?

I’ve become used to the Penn State pride over the year by seeing it on game days and meeting alums at work and having my doctor yell “WE ARE” to me. But it never fails to shock my parents—pretend alums—and now, my brother.

You see the pride just as much on a normal day as on game days. You see friends meeting at the HUB fish tanks or at “the rock” in front of Gate A at Beaver Stadium, all embracing the sense of community this university offers.

This university has granted me some of the best opportunities I could have ever asked for, including my time at TheDaily Collegian and State College’s Town&Gown magazine. Those experiences contributed me receiving an internship over the summer with The Morning Call in Allentown, Pa.

At the Collegian, I’ve covered arts, copy edited, and am currently the social media manager. I’ve covered concerts, gallery openings, fashion shows, and other arts related events in the area. As a copy editor, I edited stories and designed the layout of pages until the paper was complete, which wasn’t until about 1 a.m. And now, when you see a tweet from @DailyCollegian or a status update on Facebook, there’s a good chance it’s from me.

Last semester, I interned for Town&Gown, where I wrote health stories and profiles on people in the community. A profile on Penn State geosciences professor Richard Alley and a profile on Diane Krentzman, chair of the Walk to Cure Diabetes in State College, were my two favorite stories because these two people had charisma and passion toward their work.

As an arts and entertainment intern at The Morning Call, concert reviews were the best part of my job. I reviewed Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift, and Miranda Lambert—you could say I was their go-to country reviewer.

This semester, I am thrilled to intern for The Penn Stater, where I hope to provide you insight and information on what campus life is like here.

From internships to classes to friends who have turned into family, I can honestly say choosing Penn State was the best decision of my life, and I am so beyond excited my brother made the same choice.

I hope he is always proud to say he goes to Penn State and takes advantage of every opportunity presented to him. I hope he memorizes the fight songs, goes to the Phyrst on his 21st birthday, and stands for 46 hours raising millions of dollars for the fight against pediatric cancer.

I hope he grows up into the person he can be because that’s what this place is—a place to learn, dream, and aspire to be the best version of yourself.